Cell Phones

BLU Advance A5 LTE Review & Pros And Cons

- Analysis by KJ David

To cut to the chase, the BLU Advance A5 LTE, which was silently released alongside its Plus big brother, is an entry-level Android smartphone with typical (as of its unveiling) entry-level pros and cons, though it does come with a few favorable -- if only slightly -- specs.

For starters, it runs on an old-fashioned combination of a 1.3GHz quad-core processor (MediaTek 6580) and a paltry 1GB-only RAM , which makes us feel like it took a step backwards processing-wise -- not something you would want from a phone with advance in its moniker. At the very least, a Mali-T720 graphics processor , which is a slight mutation of the Mali-400 GPU that's usually used by many of its BLU siblings, joins its CPU and RAM under the hood, but it still stands in the shadows of the best BLU phones.

Heading over to its cameras, although we were not expecting much from the get-go, given its initial price tag of only $90, we found its 5-megapixel flash-equipped front-facing camera rather positive, seeing that not many smartphones in the low-end Android category even bother with front-firing flashes. Sitting on the opposite end is a run-of-the-mill 8-megapixel HD-video-recording primary camera that lines up with what some of its starter-class unlocked contemporaries offer -- check out some popular unlocked phones here .

Also among its selling points is a respectable (by entry-level standards) 5-inch HD (1280 x 720) display furbished with a curved glass finish , while an aluminum fuselage , which you don't see everyday in the entry-level Android market, encases its interior pros and cons.

As far as stamina is concerned, the Advance A5 LTE likely fares well versus many of its low-caliber rivals, coming with a 2400mAh battery . Note, though, that some models in its class boast as high as 3000mAh power caps, so its 2400mAh capacity is by no means a head-turner.

The Advance A5 LTE is loaded with a basic 8GB internal memory coupled with support for up to 64GB of external storage , which we would take any day over the 32GB-only external memory allowances offered by some comparable models. 4G LTE connectivity , which has grown to be an essential facet, even for low-class smartphones -- though some of them still brazenly stick to sluggish 3G network bands -- is also on board.

As unveiled by this technical review, the BLU Advance A5 LTE far from takes any giant leap forward as a budget smartphone, but it does sound suitable for Android newbies in search of a low-key, 4G-enabled smartphone.